A Change Of Pace
by stephaniec924
Summary: Allison is off to a private boarding school in Florida but isn’t sure if she’s making the right decision to leave her family in Ohio.. Until she meets gorgeous Parker Ryan, who gives her a few lessons on life, love, and changes her view on everything. R
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

As my mother and I stood there waiting for the train to pull up at the station, she enveloped me in a constricting hug with tears filled in her eyes. I took a big whiff of her Herbal Essences coconut mango scented hair that I would miss dearly while I was over 1,000 miles away at Benjamin, the notorious prep school in Palm Beach, Florida.

Normally I would never be able to afford going to such a prestigious school that cost over fifteen-thousand dollars a year, but that's where scholarships for underprivileged teens such as myself come in handy.

My mother doesn't have the money pay for expensive electives such as private school and also support my two younger siblings and me while making the deadline to pay the rent each month . She doesn't make hundreds of thousands of dollars annually like the parents of a private school attending child would. She's your average underpaid, hard-working single mother. It hasn't been easy on her ever since my father unexpectedly left us six years ago right after my younger brother was born. She struggles to make a living now as a baker at the local French bakery four blocks from our cramped three bedroom townhouse. I'm definitely going to miss her fluffy dark chocolate soufflés that were probably as good as the ambrosia fed to the Greek Gods. They're really that delicious.

"I'm going to miss you so much Allison," said my mother in between sobs and sniffles. "I can't believe my baby is already moving out of the house."

"Don't worry, I can still visit you over the breaks," I replied as I pulled away from the hug and wiped away her tears with the sleeve of my blue and gray Tildon striped hoodie that I found on a clearance rack at Nordstrom three months ago.

"That's true. I'll try to visit you as much as possible too, if the time and money allows," added my mother as she tucked back a lock of gold hair that was always in my face. "I know this is going to be an amazing experience for you. I'm happy for you."

"I know mom," I said as I took her hand into mine. "I know it will be."

The piercing whistling and roars of the train came rushing from the tracks and I gathered up my stuff and prepared to load it.

As I was loading my luggage I realized that I didn't see any other teenagers riding alone in the train without anyone else. Immediately, I already started feeling alone and scared even before I stepped into the train.

"Is this really the right decision mom?" I asked as I placed the last suitcase that needed be loaded to on the cement and sat down on it.

"Of course sweetie!" exclaimed my mother as she took the suitcase from underneath me and loaded it into the train herself. "This is probably the best decision you'll ever make in your life. Nothing like this will ever come by you ever again."

"I guess so," I sighed as I stood there knowing that I would have to say goodbye in a matter of minutes, and I still wasn't sure if I really wanted to leave Ohio.

"All aboard!" boomed the train attendants voice from his megaphone, which nearly deafened everyone within one-hundred feet of him.

"Well I guess this is goodbye then," said my mother as she attempted not to cry, but failed when she gathered me into another tear-filled hug that I couldn't help but join in on. I felt like I was two years old again, sobbing like a baby, soaking my mother with the salty tears that cascaded out like the Niagara Falls. I couldn't believe that I wouldn't see my mother again until winter break which was over five months away.

The train attendant was yelling at us through the megaphone to speed things up, so we had to put the waterworks to an end. My mother promised to give my younger brother and sister, Brian and Elizabeth, hugs and kisses for me as my final favor from her.

I waved goodbye right before I hopped into the train and showed the attendant my ticket and seat number. Once I found my seat, I threw my khaki Nike messenger bag to the empty seat to the right of my assigned one. I hoped that no one would be sitting next to me in the cramped, close together seats. I prefer not to sit by total strangers, who may very likely have an unpleasing odor coming from them or reek of too much cologne or perfume. Plus I'm claustrophobic.

I reclined my chair back and closed my eyes as I heard the last passengers boarding the train. I hoped that none of them would be sitting in one of the two empty seats on each side of me.

I plugged my iPod earphones into each ear and set it on shuffle mode and started to doze off while listening to Stolen by Dashboard Confessional. As I was about to fall asleep, I felt a light tapping on my shoulder. I nearly jumped out of my seat as I opened my eyes to see a cute brownish-red haired boy staring back at me with wide green eyes and a frightened expression on his face. I pulled the earphones out of my ears and threw them onto my lap.

"Hey, sorry for scaring you," he apologized, looking a little calmer now that he saw that I wasn't going to attack him. "My seat is the one to the right of you."

"Oh, okay. Sorry I didn't know anyone else would be sitting here." I grabbed my Nike bag and iPod and got up and walked over to the aisle so he could get to his seat.

"Thanks," he said as he settled himself into his seat and got his red iPod Nano out of his brown Quiksilver backpack. As he leaned forward to put his back pack underneath the seat in front of him, his black polo lifted up in the back and revealed flawless, tan skin that looked like it belonged on an Abercrombie model. Which wasn't surprising, considering that his face looked it belonged on one as well. When he leaned back against his seat, he looked over and caught me scrutinizing his every move. I tried not to gasp as I pretended to look right past him out the window that was on the right of him. If I heard correctly, I think I might've heard a chuckle coming from his direction. I realized that I must've looked really dumb standing in the middle of the aisle facing him when I was totally capable of going back to my seat and sitting down. I awkwardly slid back to my seat and stuffed my iPod into the front pocket of my bag so I'd look like I was actually doing something instead of sitting there looking like an idiot. I also noticed that he didn't reek of too much cologne or anything else, which I noticed as soon as I sat down next to him. And despite me being claustrophobic, I didn't mind sitting close to him.

"Any big plans for Florida?" he asked while scrolling through songs on his iPod, with one earphone in his ear and the other one hanging down.

"I'm going to school down there," I replied nervously, wondering if he was still in high school or college.

"That's cool," he stated as he leaned back against his seat and faced me. "What school? I live down there so maybe I'm familiar with it."

I wasn't surprised to find out that he was from down there and not up here. There are no guys up here that even compare to him with his shaggy copper hair that girls in any part of the nation would drool over, and his delicious tan that resembled a surfer's that I saw in a Transworld Surf magazine.

"Benjamin High School," I answered, hoping that he wasn't too much older than me.

"Oh I see. The rich private school around the block. I had a couple of friends that graduated from there."

Already graduated? If his friends graduated from there already then he has to at least be in college. For all I know, he could've already graduated from college, even though he can definitely pass as a junior or senior in high school. "Oh. So you're in college?"

"Yeah, I'll be a freshmen in college this year. I'll be attending Florida Atlantic University."

"That's cool," I replied as I thought of how old he could be if he was a freshman in college. No older than eighteen, unless he failed a bunch of times. "You don't look very old, no offense. I thought you were maybe my age or something."

"Yeah I know," he laughed. "That's because I'm not old. I just turned eighteen five day's ago. That's why I was in Ohio, I was celebrating my eighteenth birthday up here with my family."

"Oh, okay. That makes sense then."

"How old are you?" he asked with all of his attention focused on me this time. He had even taken his earphone out of his ear.

"I'm seventeen. I actually just had my birthday recently as well," I added. "I'll be a senior this year."

"You aren't so much younger than me then. I guess that explains why you thought I looked your age," he said with an adorable crooked smile that slightly exposed his perfectly straight and blindingly white teeth.

"Yeah it does," I replied attempting to give him the most radiant smile that I was capable of, and hoping that I didn't have any traces of spinach in them from the spinach omelet that I had eaten that morning.

"By the way, I'm Parker." He extended his hand out so I could shake it and still had that adorable smile on his face.

"I'm Allison," I replied as I took his hand, which was unexpectedly soft and warm, and shook it.

"Well, Allison. I'll definitely have to show you around the Palm Beach area sometime."

"That'd be great!" I exclaimed a little too excitedly. I realized that the train had already started moving and I already couldn't wait until we were in Palm Beach.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I hadn't realized how quickly time was flying until the train conductor had made an announcement on the intercom and let everyone know that we would be arriving at our destination in only six hours. I also realized that my butt was really sore and asleep by that time as well.

"That was pretty fast," remarked Parker who was clearly just as surprised as I was.

"Yeah, I know right. But we've been on the train for almost 24 hours already," I said as I peered out the window to the right of him and saw an endless vast expanse of the starlit sky with the bright lit moon to top it off. I sighed as I thought about how in only six hours my aunt Pam that lives in Florida would be at the train station waiting for me so she can take me to her house where I'd be staying for the next few days until school started.

"Everything alright?" asked Parker when he heard me sigh and noticed how expressionless my face was.

"Yeah, everything is fine. I'm just nervous, that's all."

"You don't have anything to be nervous about Allison," added Parker and then gave me an encouraging pat on the shoulder. "If it's boys that you're nervous about, then you really shouldn't be. When you arrive in Florida there will be boys lined up around the corner for you. Trust me, I would know." He gave me a friendly wink and a nudge with his elbow and flashed me that signature crooked smile of his.

"Hah, thanks. I guess," I said as I returned a smile. I couldn't believe that I was already talking to possibly one of the hottest guys I've ever met in person, and that he was maybe even the slightest bit interested in me. Despite his gorgeous looks and amazing body, he seemed like a genuine good guy. His personality was definitely one that stood out from others, and he also seemed very smart. Even though I've only known him for a little less than a day, (literally), I already knew a lot about him. He has three sisters and he is the second to youngest out of his siblings. When he was in high school he was the captain of the soccer team, which would explain his amazing tan. He also surfed on the weekends. His ex girlfriend was two years older than him and left him for another guy that she met in college, and there was so much more that we covered about each other, even though it seemed like he was still one big mystery to me.

"So, you know that before we get off of this train, you're going to have to give me your number or I.M. screen name so we can plan when I'm going to show you around the city?"

"That information would definitely be useful for your benefit, but I'll be busy with all of the boys that are lined up around the corner for me," I replied with a teasing wink. I wasn't used to being that flirtatious towards guys, especially ones that resembled Abercrombie models. I've always been the shy one, but for some reason I didn't feel so shy around Parker. "I'll have to fit you into my schedule."

"Oh I see how it is. No time in your busy schedule for the little people?"

"Pretty much. I'll be sure to check it out sometime to see when I'll be able to fit you in."

"I guess that works. Or maybe we can figure this out now." He quickly leaned over me and snatched my worn-out and pink daily planner from my open messenger bag and began flipping through the pages until he found this month's. I lurched forward to regain my book from him, but his cat like reflexes were way too fast for me.

"Come on Parker, give it back to me," I pleaded as I attempted to retrieve my planner once more but unsurprisingly failed. "This isn't cool."

"It says that after you go to the book store at 11:30 AM on August 13th, which is two days from now, that you'll have the rest of the day free, unless you forgot to add the new episode of Gilmore Girls that is scheduled that day," he said teasingly as he flipped through the next pages of the week. "It seems like you are either very busy or just extremely organized. Some of this stuff doesn't even need to be recorded on here."

"I guess I like to plan everything ahead of time, that's all," I replied feeling a little embarrassed by him finding out how obsessive compulsive I was about scheduling every little detail of what I planned on doing ahead of time. "It's pretty normal actually. I know plenty of people that do the same thing."

"Yeah, I'm sure you do. Come on Allison. Seriously, you and I both know that people don't usually do this. Most of us, well at least most if not all of the people I know, don't jot down every little event that they plan on doing. Like this one, 'August 14th, read chapters 12-18 of The Count of Monte Cristo from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM'. Is it really necessary to write that down?"

I think I felt myself blushing from embarrassment. He was right; no one else that I knew did this. I think it gave me a sense of comfort knowing that I wouldn't have to encounter a surprise that I wouldn't enjoy, or that some sort of mishap would occur. I have been through too much to let some stupid occurrence catch me off guard and screw up my day. Plus, my planning was working for me so far so why quit using it now. "It is necessary for me. I have bad memory," I lied.

"I really don't think that's the case here. I think that you're just very insecure and you are afraid of the future so you want to make sure you know every little detail of it so that you can assure yourself that everything will be okay and turn out the way you want it to," he said while looking at me dead in the eye with all seriousness. "What are you so worried about?"

"I'm not afraid of anything. I just like to plan my schedule ahead of time! Why is that so hard to believe? Plenty of people do it so why are you judging only me based upon that? I am allowed to plan my schedule, and I'm definitely not afraid of surprises," I lied again. It was like he was able to read me like a book. Everything that he said was true but I knew that I couldn't just admit it all to him. He would think that I was a loser, or that I was afraid of confrontation from anything or anyone new, which was actually pretty true.

"Well I find that incredibly hard to believe for some reason. Why can't you just admit it to me? I promise that I won't judge you based on that, everyone has some type of imperfection or flaw and I knew it was about time that I'd find yours," he remarked with a sly smile. "And I'll admit that it was pretty tough finding it. But I'll just let you know right now, surprise isn't always bad. Sometimes it's a good thing."

"No Parker, surprise is never a good thing. At least for me it isn't. And by the way, my scheduling is working fine for me and I plan on using it for awhile so I suggest you just get used to it if you plan on getting to know me." I quickly regretted those words when they came out way harsher than I planned on them being. "Sorry, I'm really not trying to be rude."

"Its fine," answered Parker as he turned his head and looked at the back of the seat in front of him, and then turned back to me with that serious look on his face again with all of his attention focused on me. "But let me ask you this. Were you not as surprised as I was when I found out that I'd be sitting next to such a smart, funny, and pretty girl? And I don't know about you, but this definitely wasn't a bad thing. So I don't know what you meant by surprise never being a good thing for you, but I would definitely consider us meeting on this train more of a surprise than anything else." Then he turned around and took the US Weekly magazine out of the back pocket of the seat in front of him and flipped it open to a random article and began reading it.

As I thought about what he said, I realized that he was right about us meeting being a surprise, and a good one at that. But no matter whom he was, he'd never change that way I view the future and how I decide to plan it.


End file.
